4

Goal

Create a custom distro that comes with a desktop environment and other desktop utilities, general applications, custom ~/.xsession, etc.

Basically, a simple image for usage with OpenBSD beginners.

The GNU/Linux alternative would be something like TurnKey.

Potential Solution

The OpenBSD installer includes 'File Sets'.

Question

Is it possible to edit these File Sets and add my own packages? What about custom settings like for the ~/.xsession?

Jeff Schaller
  • 67,283
  • 35
  • 116
  • 255
Tim Jane
  • 41
  • 2

1 Answers1

2

The ordinary OpenBSD installation procedure allows for installing an additional site-specific file set called siteXX.tgz (where XX is the current release number, e.g. 67 for release 6.7).

The OpenBSD FAQ says this about that:

The OpenBSD install and upgrade scripts allow the selection of a user-created set called siteXX.tgz, where XX is the release version. Like the official file sets, this is a tar(1) archive rooted in / and untarred with the -xzphf options. It is installed last, so it can be used to complement and modify the files from a default install. Furthermore, it is possible to use hostname-dependent sets named siteXX-$(hostname -s).tgz. [...]

You also have the opportunity to provide a script for scripting certain things during the installation process:

If the siteXX.tgz file set contains an executable file /install.site, the installer runs it with chroot(8) based at the freshly installed system's root. [...]

Example usage:

  • Set the system time.
  • Do an immediate backup/archive of the new system before you expose it to the rest of the world.
  • Have a set of arbitrary commands be run after the first boot. This will happen if install.site is used to append any such commands to an rc.firsttime(8) file [...]

Such a script could, for example, call pkg_add to install various packages, possibly from a local server if you so wish.

Community
  • 1
Kusalananda
  • 333,661